The invention relates to an apparatus for applying security elements, a security elements carrier band, a method for applying security elements.
Value documents as intended by the invention are, inter alia, bank notes, shares, bonds, deeds, vouchers, checks, air tickets, high-value admission tickets, labels for product authentication, credit cards or cash cards, but also other documents at risk of forgery, such as passports, identification cards or other identity documents.
Value documents, in particular bank notes, are usually produced from paper substrates, polymer substrates or combinations of paper and polymer which have particular security features, such as a security thread at least partly incorporated into the paper or a watermark. As further security features, so-called window foils, security threads, security bands can be bonded/laminated to the value document or incorporated therein. Security elements usually comprise a polymer or polymer compositions as a carrier material or base material. Typically, security elements have optically variable security features such as holograms or certain color-shift effects to thereby guarantee better anti-forgery security. The particular advantage of optically variable security elements is that the security features on said security elements cannot be imitated by mere copying using a copying machine, since effects of an optically variable security feature are lost or even only appear black through copying.
There already exist apparatuses for applying elements. For illustrating these apparatuses, reference is made to FIG. 6 which illustrates the present situation according to the prior art.